EU: Microsoft Response to Antitrust Order Falls Short

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The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, on March 10 sent Microsoft a hard-hitting letter, telling the software maker that it was still out of compliance with its antitrust order.

The Commission did not mince its words, saying in a statement released in Brussels that Microsoft had added nothing substantial to the revised Technical Documentation compared to the previous version.

"The material continues to be incomplete, inaccurate and unusable. The improvements required to the documentation are not merely refinements or improvements to the text: the documentation as it stands is unusable," the letter said.

The letter is the latest in a series of back-and-forth claims and counter claims between Microsoft and the Commission, which started last December when the Commission issued a "statement of objections," claiming that Microsoft had not complied with its 2004 order, which essentially requires the software giant to provide accurate and adequate protocol information to allow rivals' technology to interoperate with Windows PCs and servers.

At that time the Commission warned Microsoft that it could face a retroactive fine of up to $2.37 million a day for failing to comply with its antitrust order.

But Microsoft fired right back, saying that it planned to contest the Commission's statement of objections "to the full extent permitted under EU law, including a full oral hearing."